$300,000 Assistance to North Schools by Vodafone

Vodafone Fiji today pledged $300,000 in cash assistance to help repair and rebuild schools in the Northern Division damaged by TC YASA. In a joint announcement with Attorney General and Minister for Education, Vodafone Regional CEO, Mr. Pradeep Lal said, “The Vodafone team was on ground in Vanua levu for the past two weeks to deliver cyclone relief assistance to the most severely affected areas. We saw firsthand the massive damage to homes, schools, crops and livestock.”

The Vodafone team led by their Regional CEO Mr. Pradeep Lal were amongst the first responders to provide relief assistance to the most affected. They distributed essential food items, basis tools, hardware items and tarpaulins valued around $100,000 to affected households and villages.

The damage to school infrastructure is of immediate concern as thousands of students prepare to go back to schools from the 19^th of this month. Many parents are concerned for the education of their children and whether school will be ready in time for the new school year.

“Vodafone Fiji recognizes the importance of children being in school to continue their intellectual and personal development. We are therefore pleased to contribute $300,000 to help rebuild and repair schools that have sustained structural damages due to TC Yasa.  The future of many of our children hangs in the balance.  We hope that our contribution together with other like-minded organizations and donor agencies will help to quickly restore and rebuild school infrastructure so our children can resume normal classes. 

An estimated 60 schools have been affected in the northern division. Vodafone said it was working in close collaboration with the Ministry of Education to channel our assistance where needed.

Earlier in the year, Vodafone provided millions in free data, calls and SMS for 3 months to its customers as part of its initial COVID relief assistance.  Vodafone also provided free data, calls and SMS to the TC YASA affected areas so people could contact their loved ones.

The Vodafone network restoration teams have also been in the field 24x7 for the last 3 weeks to restore network connectivity in cyclone affected areas. Vodafone confirms it has restored

95% percent of the network in the cyclone affected areas apart from the few remaining base stations that have sustained severe infrastructural damages continue.  

With power supply still a challenge in many areas, Vodafone has shipped across generators from Viti levu to power up the base stations in the north to ensure network connectivity and communication required to coordinate relief and rebuilding efforts is made possible.